The Apt Search, My First Date and Dettol

Wow is it competitive to rent an apartment here! Fifty people show up for a 15 minute "inspection" (showing) and then everyone interested fills out an application form. The Realtors generally want a copy of your license, registration, bank statements, passport, birth certificate, tax form, fingerprints (kidding about that last one)....and on and on. Interestingly, the apartments don't come with closets or a refrigerator or a washer dryer (not kidding). A cheap two bedroom costs $400 per week (they quote in weeks over here), so it could be more than $1600 per month if a month has a few extra days in it. So after you pay $1600 bucks a month, you then have to go buy a washer and dryer and a refrigerator and have it delivered and hooked up. I guess it's not that weird if people rent for long terms, but it certainly isn't convenient. I saw two good apartments today-- both newer buildings with closets. Filled out applications, so we'll see. Am still also looking for a roomate situation where everything would already be set-up and ready to go.


OK, on to the juicier stuff... I joined an Aussie dating service. It is called RSVP. You can check out my profile here http://www.rsvp.com.au/ my screen name is "ddate". I've gotten about 100 "kisses" so far. "kisses" are basically short text messages from guys who are interested. Of those, three were okay, none particularly hot. I had my first date with one today. OY!! Soooo BORING!!! Thought I would die. Divorced guy, three kids, talked about how bad the divorce was, how he misses his kids, more about how bad the divorce was, about how his dreams were crushed. Blah blah blah. OK, so the guy was sad, I should give him a break. Well, he certainly wasn't making it easy. Between talking about how distressed he is from the divorce, he must have told me 100 times that Melbourne is THE best city in the world and Australia is THE best country--which it may be, but when I asked him if he had ever been to the US, he said "No". I said nothing in reply. Had he been to Europe, I asked? Yes, Paris. OK, we all know that I love Paris, so again, I said nothing. Then he kept insisting that the area where he lives now in the suburbs here is THE best and the ONLY place to live. He advised me (unsolicited) repeatedly that it is" mad" (crazy) for me to be looking in any other neighborhood than his. He lives in a big house in the burbs where he and his ex raised their kids. He insisted that there is no public transportation in the area where I've been looking at apartments, Carlton North-- where there are loads of cafes single people and nightlife, not to mention a major tramline running right through the center of it. I explained that I did not magically transport myself from Carlton to meet him; I took two trams. He said that he worked in Carlton for 20 years and is 100% certain that there are no trams there. I proceeded to pull out the tram map and show it to him. Oops, he didn't have his glasses with him so he couldn't read it. Whateva. On top of all of this fabulously enjoyable (not) conversation, he also looked as old as he apparently felt. I have an issue with dating guys who look worn out. I'm sorry if that sounds mean. To top it off, I'm not at all a fan of Aqua Velva yet I could not escape the aroma. OMG. It really felt like time to go and I had tell him six times thank you, but I am not interested in going back to your house for dinner. I was really practicing my meditation breathing at that point and decided that I would do the one hour walk back to the place where I'm staying rather than taking the train The walk was fabulous. It was a gorgeous, sunny 77F degree Melbourne day with a beautiful breeze. The neighborhoods here are thick with old beautiful trees creating an archway over the roads and bright flowers at sprinkled everywhere. Lovely. Ahh. Back to center.

I stopped at "the chemist" (pharmacy) to buy some hydrogen peroxide (small cut on my foot, no big deal) and guess how much a bottle was? I kid you not... $10. Yes, regular old hydrogen peroxide that you buy in a US grocery store for 59 cents. I understand import taxes, etc. but don't think you have to import hydrogen peroxide. If not, then why in the world is it so expensive here? No idea. What they use here instead is called Dettol. I've heard of people in the US using it to kill roaches or get rid of ants--no kidding. It is a product from Germany and the chemical name is parachlorometaxylenol. Check out this wki link that says it is poisonous and should not be ingested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dettol
Needless to say, I spent the $10 for the hydrogen peroxide and moved on.